Registering device for printing-presses



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. BROOKS. v REGISTERING DEVICE FOR PRINTING PRESSE3. No. 447,536. 4 Patented Mar. 3, 1891;

; mvemoa a zfzwymm a /19 ATTORNEY THE nonms Parzns co., vmgnru'mm WASHINGTON n c (N0 Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

v J. BROOKS. REGISTERING DEVIOEFOR PRINTING PRESSES.

N0. 447,536. Patented Mar. 3, 189-1;

r WITNESSES: PW INV 0B, I MW W 42;. ATTUHNEY' 7 NITED STAT-Es ATENT OFFICE.

JOHN BROOKS, OF PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY.

REGISTERING DEVICE FOR PRINTlNG-PRESSES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 447,536, dated March 3, 1891.

Application filed September 8, 1890. Serial No. 364,298. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHNBROOKS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Plainfield,in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Registering Devices for Cylinder Printing-Presses, fully set forth in the following specification and represented in the accompanying drawings.

The invention relates to single or perfecting cylinder-presses in whichthe impression cylinder or cylinders have either a continuous rotation or stop-motion, while the formbed is reciprocated through gearing from the driving-shaft of the press. In this class of presses there is a certain amount of lost motion between the cylinders and bed, due to the gearing necessarily interposed between the two to impart the different movements; and it is the object of the present invention to overcome this lost motion, more especially at the time the head of the sheet comes into printing contact with the form, and thereby insure the perfect register of said form with a given part of the sheet or with impressions previously made on the sheet with type or with colors.

To this end this invention consists in a rectilinear rack or racks carried by the formbed, a segmental rack carried by each in1- pression-cylinder adjacent that portion of itscircumference occupied by thehead of the sheet being carried, which segment rack or racks engage, or respectively engage, directly with the rectilinear rack or racks carried by the form-bed according as the latter moves in one direction or the other in printing relation with the cylinder about to make the impression, and in combination with these racks there is provided a loose spur-gear not subject to the vertical movements of the impression-cylinder with which the intermediate driving-wheel gears, and through which and another spur-gear, either on the other cylinder-shaft or an idler, the impression-cylinder is driven.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a practical embodiment of the invention, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of so much of a printing-press provided with the invention as is necessary to show its application thereto,

certain parts being broken away to expose underlying devices. Fig. 2 is avertical transverse section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, a portion of one side of the press beingbroken away. Fig. 3 is a sectional detail of a modification.

It is to be understood that the type of'cylinder-press shown is taken simply to illustrate an embodiment of the invention with a double-cylinder press in its most complete form, it being obvious that it is equally applicable to a stop-cylinder as well as to a single-cylinder press. The general organization and operation of this particular type of press is fully set forth and illustrated in my United States Letters Patent No. 413,491, dated October 22, 1889. It may, however, be briefly described as embracing a form-bed A with first and second impression-cylinders B O, respectively. Motion is imparted to the cylinders from the driving-shaft D, through a drivingpinion F, fast to said shaft, an intermediate wheel G, and the respective spur-wheels H I, fast to the impression-cylinder shafts.

J is the form-bed-driving pinion meshing with the pinion F, and K a gear for driving other parts of the press. The pinion J has double cone faces, (see Fig. 2,) which alternately engage with the pinion F, while the shaft L, to the outer end of which the pinion J is secured, oscillates in a swiveled journal M. The inner or opposite end of said shaft is journaled in a vertically-guided block N,

and carries the orbitgear O, traveling on alternate sides of the double rack P of the formbed, by which the latter is reciprocated to and fro during the continuous rotation of the said gearing. The bed has bearing-surfaces or guides V, on which the portions V of the impression-cylinders bear. The guides V are composed of two parts having inclined adjacent surfaces, (see Fig. 1,) the part a being movable endwise under the part b by means of screws 0, so that the. height of the upper faces of the guides may be regulated, the,

parts being secured in place by screws 6 after the adjustment regulates the degree of impression. The impression-cylinders are vertically movable out of contact with the formbed when the latter makes its respective return movements under them. The cylindershafts B C have movable journal-boxes B G supported on vertical shafts B 0 and these are operated by means of pinion-nuts w w from the rack X, connected to the machine to move automatically at the proper times.

on 01 represent the grippers of the respective cylinders for seizing the head of the sheet and transferring it from one cylinder to the other.

0 0 represent conveying-belts, instead of which, however, or in connection therewith a feed-board may be employed for feeding the sheets at the proper time to be seized by the grippers m, and p the con veying-belts for delivering the sheets from the grippers n to the flier or folding mechanism.

\Vith this general understanding of the construction and operation of the various parts of the press taken for illustration it will be understood that it is to overcome the lost motion incident to the gearing employed for driving the impression cylinder or cylinders and to the raising of the said cylinders out of the plane of impression that the present invention is directed. To this end instead of depending upon the meshing of the gearwheels G and II for transmitting the proper motion to the cylinders, the teeth of which gears mesh more or less according as the impression-cylinder is raised or lowered by the operation of the rack X, there is provided a loose spur-gear 20, that is mounted immediately behind the cylinder-gear II upon an independent hollow axis or journal 21, formed byabracketsecured to the press side frame. (See Fig. 2. The hollow axis surrounds the shaft G, leaving; sufficient space between them to permit the unobstructed vertical movement of said cylinder-shaft. 'lhe loose spur-gear 20 is in gear with the intermediate wheel G and with the spur-gear I of the other impression-cylinder, said gear I having a wide enough face to in turn mesh with the spur-gear H of the impression-cylinder (3. From this construction it results that the degree to which the teeth of the respective gears mesh is a constant one, notwithstanding the vertical movements of the cylinders. \Vith this. change in the mode of driving the impressioncylinders, each of the latter is provided with a segmental rack T U, adjustably secured to the end of the cylinders B C, respectively, at a point adjacent that portion of each of their circumferences occupied by the head of the sheet being printed. The teeth of these segmental racks mesh with each other as they pass during the rotation of the cylinders, and with a divided rectilinear rack S secured to the side of the form-bed A. The rectilinear rack is composed of independent portions, each adj ustably secured to the bed by setbolts j, which pass through slotted openings 11in the rack, the point of location of said racks being coincident with the head of the forms upon the bed. From the foregoing it will be readily seen that each of the segmental racks meshes with the rectilinear rack immediately before the head of the sheet reaches the plane of impression and for a short distance during the impression, whereby the accurate register of the head of the sheet with the head of the form when once obtained is maintained, while at the same time the cylinder and form-bed are in gear, and hence for a time under the control of each other. So, too, as the segmental racks mesh with each other as they pass in the rotation of the cylinders the accurate transfer of the sheet from the grippers of one cylinder to those of the other is insured, the head of the transferred sheet oecupyingprecisely the same position upon the second impression-cylinder with respect to the head of the second form as it did on the first cylinder with respect to the head of the first form, and this, also, by reason of the positive mesh of the racks U and S at the time the head of the blank side of the sheet reaches the plane of impression over the second form.

In order to be able to shift the impression cylinders bodily to vary to the margin at the head of the sheet without disturbing their aecurate relation with each other and obviating the necessity of loosening either of the cylinder-gears from their shafts, the fast spurgears H and I of the impression-eylindersare each formed with acircumferentially-adjustable rim 22, the hub or center of which is keyed or otherwise fast to its respective shaft 0' B. The rim and hub are secured in their adjusted relation by suitable bolts 10, which pass through slots 9 in the rim, which when the bolts are loosened allow the cylinders and the hubs of the gears II I to be turned in unison through the segmental racks UT. As is obvious, after thus turning the cylinder the rectilinear rack S will be adjusted in position to again properly mesh with each of the segmental racks.

In lieu of providing each of the spur-gears II I with the circumferentially-adjustable rims, the intermediate driving-Wheel G may be similarly constructed, as shown in Fig. 3, and in this respect the adjustment of the single rim will effect the same purpose as the adjustment of the rims of the two gears II and I.

The described means for obviating the lost motion between the gearing and for effecting and maintaining the perfect register of the sheets with the form or forms is the preferred form of the inventio'n,-it being obvious that in adapting it to stop-cylinder presses or to single-cylinder presses some modification thereof may be needful, although that shown will serve, Without departing from the invention.

\Vhat is claimed is- 1. In a cylinder printing-press, the combination of the two impression-cylinders, each provided with a segmental rack meshing with one another, and the form-bed having areetilinear rack with which each of the segmental racks mesh, substantially as described.

2. In a cylinder printing-press, the combination of the two impressioncylinders driven independently of the bed, and each provided with a segmental rack meshing with one another, and the form-bed having a rectilinear rack with which each of the segmental racks mesh, substantially as described.

3. In a cylinder printing-press, the combination of the two impression-cylinders, each provided with a segmental rack meshing with one another, and the form-bed having a divided rectilinear rack with which each of the segmental racks mesh, substantially as described.

4. In a cylinder printing-press, the combination of the two iimpression-cylinders, each provided with a segmental rack meshing with one another, the cylinder spur-gear having circumferentially-adjustable rims, and the formbed having a longitudinally-adjnstable rectilinear rack with which each of the segmental racks engage, substantially as described.

5. In a cylinderprinting-press, the combination of the impression-cylinder provided with a segmental rack, the cylinder spur-gear or a connecting-gear having a circumferentially-adjnstable rim, and the form-bed having a longitudinally-adjustable rectilinear rack with which the segmental rack engages, substantially as described. I

6. In a cylinder printing-press, the combination, with a vertically-movable impressioncylinder, its fast spur-gear, the driving-pinion, intermediate wheel in gear with the-pinion, a loose spur-gear on a fixed axis meshing with the intermediate wheel and another spur-gear meshing with theloose spur-gear and the fast spur-gear, of a segmental rack on the cylinder, and a form-bed havinga rectilinear rack with which the segmental rack meshes, substantially as described.

7. In a cylinder printing-press, the con1bination, with the two impression-cylinders, a spur-gear fast to each cylinder and meshing with each other, the driving-pinion, intermediate-Wheel in gear with the pinion, a loose spur-gear on a fixed axis meshing with the intermediate wheel and with one of the cylinder spur-gears, of a segmental rack on each cylinder, and a form-bed having a rectilinear rack with which the segmental racks mesh. substantially as described.

8. In a cylinder printing-press, the combination, with the two impression-cylinders vertically movable to and from the plane of impression, the driving-shaft, and gearing interposed between the cylinder-gears and said driving-shaft insuring the constant mesh of the cylinder-gears with the pinion on said shaft, of a segmental rack on each cylinder meshing with each other during a portion of the rotation of the cylinders, and a form-bed having a rectilinear rack with which the segmental racks mesh, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN BROOKS. Witnesses:

GEO. H. GRAHAM, CHAS. HANIMANN. 

